Scribbles and notes and even some pictures

Menu

Monster Raised Beds

We’re getting started! This was our first day of major yard work/yard construction. It was a ton of work, mainly because Zach is a bit of a perfectionist, but also because we built a huge garden bed with huge 6X6 lumber pieces. We wanted a bed that would last, not bow out eventually from the weight of soil, and we used cedar because it’s safe for the food, and won’t rot nearly as fast as other woods (which are generally treated with cedar to prolong their lives). Surprisingly, it wasn’t much more expensive than building a nice regular raised bed, because we called around to lumber yards and found one with great deals on shorter, 4 foot-long pieces.

The only things we have left to do with this particular bed is to build up a stone retaining wall around it, to keep the dirt from falling, to fill it with garden soil (and prep it for that), and to create a mulch path around the bed so we don’t have grass around it, and so it’s nice to walk around. We will put in the irrigation system in May, along with a new sprinkler system in the backyard.

Anyway! I’ll just post pictures and let them mostly speak for themselves.

My dad drilling holes for the rebar. We used the rebar on the bottom level of the lumber to secure it to the ground.It took quite a while to level out the ground. That was actually the most work. Shoveling and tampering for hours…Zach and Layla finally agreed to the outline and dimensions.Zach putting in the rebar.I was terrified that my dad’s duct-taped axe was going to kill someone as we used it as a hammer…The dogs used the wheelbarrows as shade, even though we have a covered deck and plenty of shade elsewhere. They were committed to the project.The “semi-final” product. It was a long day, but it looks beautiful, and makes me want to create a garden labyrinth.We are mostly doing seeds, but we did get this strawberry plant for the back part of the garden.

There is still quite a lot to do, and I’ll try my best to document everything, at least via pictures. Thank you for taking this journey with me!